This project is great for young children in the early stages of learning about numbers and counting. Instruct children to choose their favorite number between one and 10. Offer them a supply of magazines and have them cut out pictures relating to their number. Glue the pictures onto a piece of construction paper and display them on a bulletin board. Children can choose pictures showing the actual number or showing that number of items in the picture, such as three muffins, three cats or three crayons.
Tangrams are a type of puzzle that originated in China. The pieces of these puzzles are constructed such that the finished shape will have 23 sides, no matter how it is built. Each side will have four different lengths, two of which are double the length of the other two. Hundreds of different puzzles that can be created from the same pieces. Have children create their own tangrams with scissors and paper. To create durable, long-lasting tangram puzzles, use cardboard instead of regular paper or laminate the paper pieces once the children are finished.
Graphing is a fun math activity that allows children to observe data in an organized manner. Ask children to think of a survey question that they can present to other children in their class or in their school. Questions can be anything from favorite school lunch item to desired superpower. Once the information is collected, children should create a graph showing the results. Supply children with a variety of tools for creating their graphs such as crayons, markers, buttons, string, paper and stickers.
In this game, students use a calendar to illustrate an algebraic equation. Give each child a piece of paper featuring a random month on the calendar. Instruct children to choose 9 dates that form a square and color those squares with a crayon. The dates must be three in a row; the three in a row beneath those; and the three in a row beneath those. Instruct the children to add up the numbers from their nine dates. When the children have a total for all of their dates, tell them to divide by the number in the center of the square. The answer should be 9 for all children, no matter which dates they chose or which month they had. Children might think this is a magic trick, but it is actually a demonstration of basic averaging.
Another variation of this project is to cut out the dates on the calendar and glue them to a piece of construction paper. Display the cut-outs on a bulletin board.